The Science Behind Cocoa For Overall Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 249
Cocoa is a plant-based, food-based antioxidant that has so many benefits when it comes to our health. Here’s what you need to know.
Tag: heart
Helping The Heart Stay Healthy – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 244
I think it’s safe to say that most Americans fall short of being healthy and chronic disease becomes a major problem. But we can look at diet and our exposure to different pollutants that can have a negative impact on heart health and brain health.
The Numerous Benefits of Aged Garlic – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 239
aged garlic
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
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Most of us have used the term “thinking outside the box” at some point in time in our lives. One thing that I like to think about is thinking outside of the kitchen and there’s a reason why. There are so many wonderful things that we have in our food on a regular basis that can be so helpful for our overall health, so we have to think about some of the common nutrients that we’re exposed to. We can think about things like onion and garlic, for example. The garlic is predominantly what I want to focus in on today. We know that garlic not only has many well-studied cardiovascular benefits to it, but it goes well beyond that. I want to talk all about the many benefits of garlic, aged garlic in particular. When we think about supplementation, we want to make sure that the form of garlic we are using is the aged garlic type.†
What is garlic?
Most of us know garlic and it definitely has a very strong and familiar scent to it. Most people know if someone has had a good amount of garlic in a meal or you walk into your house and if someone is preparing a meal with a lot of garlic, it has a very profound smell to it.
Garlic itself is a perennial that actually belongs to the onion family. The flavors that come from the garlic are very, very powerful, which is why when you’re cooking with garlic, usually a little bit goes a long way. There are many different types of garlic. Most of us just think of the traditional garlic that we utilize, which is the hardneck garlic. We have to recognize that all of the powerful constituents that are found within the garlic is what really yields all of these superior health benefits.†
Aged Garlic for Heart and Overall Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 54. Listen Now >>
Learn more about the history of garlic by tuning into the full podcast episode.
We also have to look at the chemicals and constituents that are in garlic. We know that allicin is a very powerful chemical constituent that is derived from the garlic itself. What’s really quite interesting is that it is the allicin that produces that very powerful and unique scent. We know that there’s a high count of sulfur compounds in garlic and this is what’s responsible for its scent and taste, as well as those beneficial effects. It’s been studied across the spectrum when it comes to health.†
Garlic outside the kitchen
Initially, people would look at garlic in terms of its cardiovascular benefits and we certainly know that there are many of those. It offers broad cardioprotective effects, to such a degree that there was a really important study that came out in the Journal of Nutrition about four or five years ago. This was done via the UCLA Medical Center, where they were showing the impact of aged garlic extract, so now we’re talking about supplementation as opposed to the food. This means that we’re taking those really active constituents and putting them into a capsulated form. You’re getting a major power punch of those constituents. In this study, they were able to show that aged garlic could reduce dangerous plaque buildup within the arteries. This is a really great thing.†
At UCLA, they completed the four different randomized studies through which they looked at the progression of atherosclerosis and heart disease and looking at the aged garlic and seeing that it had this ability to actually reverse those different stages of heart disease. We have seen studies where they assess the C-reactive protein, which indicates levels of chronic inflammation. We have seen how beneficial aged garlic can be, even with supporting cholesterol levels.†
Importance of Aged Garlic for Heart Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 16. Listen Now >>
A study published in 2019 by the Experimental Biology Journal talked about how garlic could reduce aging-related memory problems. In this particular study that was conducted out of the University of Louisville, they were looking at that sulfide compound within the allicin. The interesting finding within the study was the correlation between the gut microbiome. Remember, a healthy gut means a healthy mind. The researchers were able to see how the garlic itself helped to maintain that healthy gut microbiome, those microorganisms that are in the intestines that are there to keep us healthy and to maintain that proper communication between the gut and the brain. The gut contains trillions of these microorganisms. They were able to show just how the garlic itself can work in a way to enhance that communication between the two, and in doing that, they were able to show an improvement in memory.†
Tune into the full podcast episode for additional benefits of aged garlic.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
Why Coenzyme Q10 Ubiquinol Is So Important – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 233
Coenzyme Q10 is a powerful antioxidant that has been studied in the support of energy production and heart health.
How To Optimize Heart Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 210
There are many different nutrients that support heart health, on top of, of course, adhering to a healthy diet. Here’s what you need to know.
The Importance of Plant Sterols for Healthy Cholesterol – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 191
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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We’ve all heard the impact that high cholesterol can have on our overall health and how it can put us at a greater risk for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death within the United States. We have to understand what high cholesterol is, when it becomes problematic, and the difference between elevated levels of VLDL, LDL, and HDL. When we look at American society as a whole, we know that well over 30% of the population has high cholesterol. We also recognize that it has been directly linked to being a major indication for cardiovascular events later on in life.
A recent study released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine discusses how having high cholesterol levels early in life can lead to heart problems by middle age. Having high cholesterol in your teen years or in your early 20s increases your risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiac event during the middle ages.
The Benefits of Taurine On Your Heart – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 189. Listen Now >>
Good vs. bad cholesterol
We need to have cholesterol in our bodies. We need it as part of our brain chemistry. The absence of good cholesterol can lead to cognitive decline, as well as an increase in risk for a cardiovascular event. We want to take care of and maintain our good cholesterol because it is actually cardioprotective. LDL, which is your low-density lipoproteins, is the so-called “bad” cholesterol. An LDL level of over 100mg/dL is generally considered elevated. When someone has elevated LDL, this can really be an indication of extensive damage that is occurring that can’t even be seen or recognized. That’s why lowering your cholesterol can really reduce your risk of having a heart attack.
Why Food and Supplementation Matters
Oftentimes, people turn to pharmacotherapies to treat cholesterol issues. This includes statin drugs and other medications that are used to try to regulate someone’s cholesterol. Certainly, there are times where statin drugs are warranted in certain situations, and certain types of statins may be better for some patients than other types of statins. A lot of our problem when it comes to endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular risk comes down to our diet.
A single-blind trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association tested the impacts of an improved diet on people with elevated cholesterol. These patients also had elevations in different markers for inflammation, so they kind of fell into the category of metabolic syndrome. The subjects followed a Mediterranean diet and received detailed advice from the researchers as to how to increase their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and how to include olive oil into their routines. This helped them reduce their intake of bad carbohydrates and bad fats. The researchers found that after 2 years, patients who followed the Mediterranean-style diet did significantly better in terms of their overall levels when it came to blood sugar, total cholesterol, and inflammation markers. This is why foods do matter.
You can also help your body in terms of supplementation. We know that high-antioxidant nutrients, like Vitamin C and Vitamin E, are helpful. But we can also look at sterols. Plant sterols have been around for a really long time and really can promote a significant amount of support when it comes to the way that the body manages cholesterol transport. This is why having a diet that is high in plant sterols really yields a significant amount of advantageous benefits to the way that your body is reacting to those elevations or fluctuations. Taking plant sterols as a supplement can also really yield you that benefit. InVite® Health Sterols is a really wonderful product to have as part of your cholesterol-targeting arsenal. Tune into the full podcast episode for studies looking at the impacts of plant sterols on cholesterol levels. There’s a lot of things that people can be doing on their own to optimize their overall cardiovascular health, but it starts with the choices that you make. Always keep that in mind.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
Questions about how plant sterols can benefit your heart health? Leave us a comment below to discuss!